


Any Other Name

by octovoid128



Series: Tales Will Live and Die [2]
Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: M/M, and stupid, lyf is very smart and definitely used to be a detective, or whatever an inspector second class does, they're just cute and soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23206999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octovoid128/pseuds/octovoid128
Summary: Lyf is pretty sure Marius is hiding something from him. He just has no idea what it could possibly be.
Relationships: Lyfrassir Edda/Marius von Raum
Series: Tales Will Live and Die [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667215
Comments: 5
Kudos: 168
Collections: Stowaways' Shenanigans





	Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> i am finally following through on my promise for continuing atvwos with other little fics. I realized in writing the epilogue to atvwos that lyf had no clue that Marius's real name is Byron (which is because I didn't know while writing it) so this is the result because i like that fun little bit of lore.

Lyfrassir was beginning to think there was something Marius was hiding from him.

It started with the handkerchiefs. Marius had a veritable collection of the things, though many were ragged and bloody and now rarely used. Somehow they still ended up all over the place, which Lyf suspected was because the man had never organized anything in his life. He didn’t mind the disorganization too much, though he did his best to try to remedy it where he could.

No, the problem was that he’d occasionally come across some that were monogrammed very clearly with “BMvR.” He didn’t think too much about this at first, assuming that Marius had just insisted on adding the B to represent his fake barony. But then he found others that were monogrammed more simply with “MvR.” And those ones tended to be the ones that looked newer, less often splashed in blood and gore. Still, it probably just had something to do with the baron thing, so he brushed it off. 

The next hint he got was when someone changed Marius’s name in the group chat (which Lyf hadn’t even known existed until  _ after _ they got together, but upon skimming the backread discovered this was because the Mechanisms had spent a good few months mocking Marius about his crush on Lyf. Marius did not seem to have replied to the chat once that whole time.) Originally, his name was something ridiculous along the lines of “Von Raumk N Roll” but Ashes had taken it upon themself to change it to “Baron B-money” because “Von Raumk N Roll fucking sucks, marius.”

**Baron B-Money:** as if this one sucks much less than Von Raumk N Roll, ashes. 

**O’Reilly’s Spaceship Parts:** at least it sucks  _ less _

**Baron B-Money:** no, it really doesn’t. 

**Inspector Snyf:** who the hell changed my nickname

**Baron B-Money:** do you not like it? :(

**Inspector Snyf:** well… it’s better than “Insextor sex in ass”

**First M8:** that one was a good joke, fuck off edda. 

**Baron B-Money changed their name to Mari-me Lyf**

**Mari-me Lyf:** this one sucks way less

**First M8:** christ, go be sappy somewhere the fuck else.

Lyf looked up at Marius (who had indeed been sitting right next to him for the entirety of this text conversation) with fond exasperation.

Marius just grinned at him, scrunching his nose cutely.

Lyf laughed and pushed his face away gently. “If you’re actually trying to propose, you’re going to have to try harder than that.”

Marius laughed too.

It wasn’t until later that Lyf even realized that there was something off about the nickname Ashes had given Marius. There was that mysterious B again, and this time it definitely hadn’t stood for Baron. 

His next clue he didn’t realize was a clue until well after. 

He was in the archives with Ivy, chatting about some literature she had managed to snag from New Midgard before she escaped when Marius walked in.

He slipped an arm around Lyf’s waist and settled his chin on the top of Lyf’s head.

“Hey there, bookworms, what’s up?”

Ivy raised an eyebrow at him.

“We were just discussing how if you think about it, Jonny could be considered a  _ Byronic _ hero if he were a character in a story.”

Lyf had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. First of all that was absolutely not what they had been discussing, and secondly he had absolutely no idea what the hell the phrase “Byronic hero” even meant.

“I’m sure he could be,” Marius replied smoothly, “but also this sounds like a much less interesting conversation than I even expected so I’m going to steal Lyfrassir here for a second and then I’m just not going to give him back actually because he’s my boyfriend.”

And with that Marius scooped Lyf into his arms and carried him away.

As it turned out, what Marius needed him for was kissing. Lots and lots of kissing. So.  _ Very  _ important and  _ very _ understandable that Lyf quickly forgot about just how strange that interaction with Ivy had been.

The last time just made Lyf feel like an idiot. 

He and Marius had been awake for a while, but had once again gotten caught up in the press of their mouths and hot hands on each other’s skin.

They would have been completely content to stay that way, fingers mapping out more of each other’s bodies, except that the Toy Soldier burst in with its usual bright grin. Lyf and Marius sprung apart with a speed that was honestly impressive.

“Good Morning Friends Lyf And Byron Marius Von Raum! I Have Been Ordered To Bring You To Breakfast!”

“Why are you calling me that?” Marius scowled at it, which seemed a little rude given that it had just mispronounced “baron.” Although Lyf couldn’t say he was exactly happy himself at being interrupted.

“I Was Also Ordered To Do That, Byron Marius Von Raum!”

“Well quit it. That’s a fucking order.”

“That Is Not A Properly Worded Order Byron Marius Von Raum!”

“Toy Soldier!” Marius barked, and this time it really did sound like an order, which was, Lyf was not ashamed to admit,  _ distractingly _ hot. “You are to address me as Marius, understood?”

The Toy Soldier gave a snappy salute to signal the command had been received loud and clear, “Yes Sir, Marius, Sir!”

“Thank you.” He turned to look at Lyf and for once his expression was hard to read. “We should probably get going, or they’ll come harass us.”

Lyf sighs and nods, “I know. It’s just a shame is all. You are kind of handsome when you’re giving orders.”

Marius laughs, “Well, I’m filing  _ that _ away for later.”

“I expect you to.” Lyf grins and slips his hand into Marius’s. “Breakfast first though.”

Breakfast is where things really come to a head. They enter into the kitchen to the usual wolf whistles and catcalls, which Lyf honestly can’t believe they haven’t gotten bored of yet.

“Enjoy your wake-up call,  _ Byron _ ?” Jonny grins at Marius and Lyf doesn’t remember Marius picking up a gun before they left but he suddenly has one that he uses to blow Jonny’s head off, splattering Ashes and Tim on either side of him.

“Gross, Byron now I need to wash Jonny off of me.” Ashes gripes, before getting a faceful of lead themself.

“Anyone else craving like a bullet for breakfast?” Marius glares around at the rest of them.

“Really, you’re blowing this out of proportion, B-” Raphaella doesn’t get to finish her sentence before the gun goes off.

“ _ Anyone else _ ? I can do this all day, you know.”

“Eventually you’re going to run out of bullets, Baron von Crankypants.” Lyf loops his arm around Marius’s and pulls him over to the food.

“ _ You _ are on thin ice, Lyfrassir.” Marius pouts, but he doesn’t even point the gun at him.

Lyf hands him a plate and grabs one for himself. “Let’s have breakfast in bed, hm?”

Marius sighs like he knows Lyf is going to ask when they get back to their room. Which he is, of course, because he’s not stupid and knows the Mechs are waiting for him to get the fucking hint. He drags Marius back to their room anyways.

They eat in relative silence which is. Weird. To say the least, considering Marius rarely stops speaking unless his mouth is otherwise occupied.

“So…” Lyf breaks the silence eventually, “You want to explain or should I just. Draw my own conclusions?”

“Didn’t you used to have a job in drawing your own conclusions?” Marius raises an eyebrow, but his voice isn’t harsh so Lyf just rolls his eyes.

“Okay well given the clues it seems like your name might not be Marius?”

“Marius  _ is _ my name!” Marius pauses for a second. “It’s just not my  _ first _ name.”

“Okay. And your first name is… Byron?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t like being addressed as Byron?”

Marius shrugs, looking a bit embarrassed, which was again, a little strange. “Not  _ necessarily _ , I mean, there are a lot of reasons I started going by Marius, not the least of which is that ‘Baron Byron’ sounds real fucking stupid.”

“You’re not even a real Baron.” Lyf points out.

“Lyfrassir! You wound me!” Marius clutches dramatically at his heart and  _ that’s _ far more characteristic of him so Lyf counts it as a win.

“Someone has to give you a reality check once in a while, Marius!” Lyf nudges him with his shoulder.

Marius laughs and nudges him back.

“Is there a reason you were trying to hide it from me if it doesn’t really bother you?”

“I wasn’t trying to hide it from you, I just… well honestly I forgot to tell you and then it never felt like the right time to say ‘hey by the way my real name is Byron and all of my friends know that and will randomly refer to me as that to be assholes’? I mean like at first I thought you were dead and then you were dealing with things and then you  _ did _ die but then you got better and then there was the eldritch thing to deal with and then we started-”

“Marius, you remember I was there right? You don’t need to retell the story.” Lyf puts a soft hand on his cheek.

“Right. Yes you were indeed. Well then you get it! We had a  _ lot _ going on and then we were dating and you’d only just started calling me Marius, I felt like adding another name on top of that was unnecessary? Plus I mean. I literally forgot so you can tell how much I care about ‘Byron’ as a name.”

Lyf laughs. “That’s fair. Alright then, just. Want to make sure we’re on the same page, you know?”

“Of course.” Marius sets his plate aside so he can pull Lyf close and kiss him on the forehead. “Anything  _ you _ need to tell  _ me _ ?”

“Yes, actually, my real name is actually Tuba.” Lyf can’t keep his face straight for longer than a few seconds as Marius goes on a face journey trying to process that.

“Oh you wanker!” Marius grabs Lyf’s plate to set it aside as well before tackling him in a barrage of tickles that leaves them both breathless with laughter.

Lyf has to take a second to catch his breath once Marius’s hands go still.

“You know I love you, right? Byron or Marius or whatever other name you feel like going by. You’re way more than that.”

Marius laughs softly and kisses them. “I know. I love you too, Tuba.”

“Please don’t actually start calling me that, I will have to toss you out the airlock.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Marius attacks him with tickles again and then he’s too focused on fending him off and trying to stop laughing to put any more thought into the many names of Doctor Baron Byron Marius von Raum (neither a doctor nor a baron.)

**Author's Note:**

> if you have any other ideas for shenanigans these guys can get up to, let me know in the comments and i'll see what i can do! (no promises though)


End file.
